That is a lot of ifs, buts and maybes but it is being claimed Bilic wants the Croatian international to be his first signing at Upton Park, and should that be the case it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Lovren signed for Liverpool from Southampton last summer in a £20million deal that has not quite gone according to plan.

Despite Lovren’s impressive form at St Mary’s he has struggled at Anfield and his hefty price-tag has been questioned by some fans.

Perhaps it is simply a case of second season syndrome, after his impressive first year in the Premier League and his change of environment, plus of course the extra responsibility of being a big-money signing. But if West Ham do want him, Liverpool are unlikely to sell on the cheap given their initial outlay and the fact that Lovren’s contract runs for another four years.

Bilic knows Lovren well from his time as manager of Croatia, and it may be that he can get the best out of the 25-year-old.

But West Ham do not have the funds to pay anywhere close to what Liverpool forked out 12 months ago, so this one may be dead in the water, even if Bilic does ultimately replace the recently departed Sam Allardyce.

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. Shortly after, in a somewhat leftfield move, he began working at a secondary school in Kent. After eight years – the last four of which were spent as Head of Sixth Form – he began to write full-time, combining his love of football with his passion for the written word.Alongside his work for HITC Sport, he also writes film reviews for HITC Lifestyle… along with the odd music interview when fate allows.